The National Liberation Front (NLF; ) was a Marxist paramilitary organization and a political party operating in the Federation of South Arabia, (now southern Yemen) during the Aden Emergency. During the North Yemen Civil War, fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British attempted to establish an autonomous colony known as the Federation of South Arabia. Following the exit of the British armed forces, the NLF seized power from its rival, the Arab nationalist Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY). In the aftermath of the Emergency, the NLF reorganized itself into the Yemeni Socialist Party and established a single-party Marxist-Leninist government, known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Background In the late 50s Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser's Pan-Arabism had spread to the region and threatened Britain and the traditional Emirs of the region's control. In response the British were able to convince the feuding Emirs to merge into the Federation of South Arabia. In the federation the Aden Trade Union Congress had a large influence in the new assembly and to prevent it seizing control of the Federation in 1962 the Colony of Aden joined the Federation so that Aden's pro-British assembly members could counter the ATUC's influence. The day after Aden joined the Federation Muhammad al-Badr of the Yemenese monarchy was overthrown and civil war ensued between forces backed by Nassar like the National Liberation Front (NLF) and monarchist forces backed by the Saudis and British. This conflict spread throughout the region becoming what the British would term as the Aden Emergency which officially began when a state of emergency was declared in the State of Aden. Creation The anti-Royalist campaign for power spread to the Federation of South Arabia in 1964 when the NLF announced the start of their revolution. In 1964 there was a new British government headed by the Labour Party after they won the United Kingdom general election. They attempted to grant independence to the Federation of South Arabia by giving Abdullah al Asnag's FLOSY control of the country. This proposal was annulled by the American President Johnson who didn't want Britain to withdraw while the Americans were escalating the Vietnam War. In 1965 the British suspended the Federation of South Arabian government and imposed direct colonial rule. Realizing that the British weren't going to give him control Asnag fled the country and joined the NLF. However elements of